GAUSSIAN - Galileo AUthentication and GNSS/INS platforms for Secure and Safe services In Air Navigation and mobility

In recent years, there has been a vibrant interest in Urban Air Mobility (UAM), particularly in advancements in batteries, distributed electric propulsion, and other technologies that are leading to the development of a new class of aircraft, commonly referred to as electric Vertical TakeOff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft. 

These are expected to be safer, quieter, greener, and less expensive to operate and maintain than existing VTOL aircraft. They promise to be much less complex than legacy helicopters (of comparable size and carrying capability), but the reduced complexity of the aeronautical structure does not imply simpler avionics for flight control, navigation, and vehicle management. This touches diverse Position Navigation and Time (PNT) technologies - the low-level data fusion between Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) is a potential solution, especially if new features of GNSS signals are exploited. 

GAUSSIAN addresses the problem of safety and security of UAM applications that rely on PNT modules powered by EGNSS. Specifically, GAUSSIAN wants to demonstrate the value of the authenticated Galileo E1 signals combined to integrated GNSS/INS platforms to have (i) greater robustness against spoofing attempts and (ii) better continuity and availability of PNT data in constrained environments. GAUSSIAN wants to mitigate some security risks and concerns which originate from real needs of flight operators, leveraging advances in existing PNT technologies. The project also includes the application of the Precise Point Positioning (PPP)-RTK corrections provided by the Galileo High Accuracy Service (HAS) to improve the PNT data accuracy. GAUSSIAN starts from existing concepts, prototypes and components developed by the proposing companies, with a strong focus on the creation of new integrated and certified products for the upcoming air mobility market.